Ecological planning as the basis of spatial planning in the periurban area of Curicó city

In Chile, territorial planning is still an issue whose development has been scarce and isolated, since there is an explicit absence of a law that organizes the institutions in this matter. An instrument that can contribute to territorial planning is ecological planning, which provides a look at the ecosystems in the territory. In the case of the periurban area of Curicó, in recent years it has experienced unregulated urban and suburban expansion, with overlapping activities in land use due to lack of updating of planning instruments and a comprehensive view of territorial planning. The objective of this article is to identify environmental measures and requirements for the uses of the territory for the periurban area of Curicó grouped into three territorial subsystems. The research methodology begins with data collection from key actors in the territory through semi-structured in-person interviews, applying subjective validation based on the experience of the participants. The main results show the geospatial location of all the environmental measures and requirements for the uses of the territory, all of them grouped into three territorial subsystems. The discussion and conclusions highlight the reflections on: the importance of ecological planning, local ecological planning and geospatial dynamics in the peri-urban area of Curicó, some reflections on the methodology used and the trajectory and projection of studies in ecological planning in Chile.